Understanding Fire
by sev7n
Summary: Aang and Zuko discuss firebending, its nature, and its relevance to their mission. Ship neutral, and post TFBM. Oneshot.


Author's note: I really wasn't planning on doing this

Author's note: I really wasn't planning on doing this. Really. However, the beta-reader feature of requires an individual to have 5 stories or 6000 words, so I figured I'd try my hand at it once more. My previous stories, from many years ago, were pretty bad, but hopefully I've improved since the time I was a high school freshman.

I own nothing.

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It was only a little after sunrise in the western air temple, but Aang was certain that he would be unable to move for the rest of the day. It was only the third day since Zuko's "discipline" for waking up late had started, and the young avatar was sure he'd take just about any other firebending sifu right about then.

"Firebenders rise with the sun," the banished prince had said calmly, "So until you can do that on your own, I'll be helping you beat it." For the past 3 mornings, Aang had been awakened with increasingly creative methods long before the first ray of sunlight appeared. He was pretty sure that Zuko needed to find some other hobby. It had been one thing the first morning, when Zuko had surrounded him with a carefully controlled fire and shouted about firebenders attacking (this had proven to backfire just as much as it served its purpose, because after the prince had recovered from sudden blast of air he had been receiving, Katara had "accidentally" struck him with a water whip after "confusing" him with the enemy he himself was announcing to rouse the airbender), and Aang had even taken the next morning's method, when Zuko had gotten Toph to earthbend him out of his room and send him flying out of the temple, with good humor. But now, with this morning's method consisting of tying the slumbering monk's foot to Appa and attracting the flying bison with an apple, Aang's mood was starting to go south.

If that wasn't bad enough, now that he understood how to properly firebend, Zuko's training consisted largely of sparring and excercises. And due to the fact that the prince had made certain that no element besides fire was to be used, Aang understood quite well that he wouldn't be taking his frustrations out on his sifu. If Zuko had been an even opponent back during the winter against Aang's airbending, it seemed as if he had become unstoppable in comparison to the bald monk's efforts at firebending.

"Come on Avatar, I know you're better than this," the scarred teen remarked after batting away another fireball.

"I'm trying! Its not like you can expect me to be in top form with everything you're doing to wake me up before hand!" Aang shouted, punctuating his frustrations with (what he thought to be) a very large fire blast.

"That's my point exactly," Zuko commented as he let the flames surround himself, before gathering them all into a single fireball and launching back at the avatar. "You're going to need to be able to fight through fatigue and exhaustion; the odds are that you'll be dealing with a lot of firebenders before you get to the Fire Lord."

"I know that, alright! But I can still fly over most of them, and-"

"No you can't. Remember, the Fire Nation has the skies too now. Their airships and war balloons are going to be ready to intercept you. And thanks to Azula, they have the Dai Lee, so underground is a no-go as well. They have every approach you can make guarded, and you're going to have to fight to get through. We'll be there to help as much as we can, but its not like you can just sit back and wait. This next invasion is going to be relying almost exclusively on speed." With that, the firebending teacher released a huge blast of fire (_That's the one he used in Ba Sing Se!_ Aang thought) and it took everything the boy had to stall it enough to evade.

"Ok, fine! But I'll be able to bend all four elements then, so why can't I use them now if you're comparing this to the invasion so much?" Aang really wanted to do something, anything, to give his sifu a taste of his own medicine.

"Because you're not going to be bending fire very much at this rate. Unlike the other elements, fire's nature is completely offensive. With earth under your belt, you've got a good start, but you have to go further than just standing your ground. We're going to be attacking the Fire Nation. We're going on the offensive. That means that you have to be aggressive. I know we learned the true source of firebending at the Sun Warrior ruins, but we don't have time to learn any passive form right now. More to the point, you don't need to. Direct offense is exactly what you need to learn right now." With that, the banished prince created a large ball of fire in each hand, before bringing them together in a single, widespread blast.

_Aggressive. Have to be aggressive. If that's what Zuko's telling me, then the true point behind his attacks…I have to overcome his offense with my own!_ Smiling at what he had just understood, the young avatar focused solely on Zuko, on his target, as he brought his hands together, creating an even larger blaze, which promptly overcame the scarred prince's.

In spite of the force of the attack, the prince had little difficulty absorbing the momentum and simply leaping backward with the force of the blast. As he landed, Zuko smiled. Apparently what Toph had told him was true: Aang really could come through once he understood the fundamentals. Maybe it was an Air Nomad thing. Regardless, it was good news. The Avatar had a real chance to do this.

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Ya, not very much to it. I was just thinking about how different firebending is from the other forms in that its aggressive and offensive. I know about the whole Sun Warriors thing, but when you think about it, Jeong Jeong was the most correct on it: unlike the other elements, fire will still spread and do damage even when you aren't controlling it. I know that earth is supposedly the most difficult for Aang since its his opposite, but I can't imagine the peaceful, evasive nature of an airbender to easily slide into the sort of firebending Zuko would teach him.


End file.
